The Adventure Island Series Ranked
In 1986, developer Escape and publisher Sega released WONDER BOY into arcades. It was a cool, linear action platforming game, and it spawned a whole bunch of sequels that took the series into an action RPG/platformer direction. Meanwhile, Hudson Soft had acquired the rights to console ports of that original WONDER BOY…well, at least most of the rights. Hudson Soft was able to make a game that used the same gameplay systems as WONDER BOY, but they didn’t have the rights to the characters or narrative of the game. Thus, ADVENTURE ISLAND was born, an NES port of WONDER BOY that introduced a new main character, Master Takahashi, as he was known in Japan, or Master Higgins, as he was known in America. ADVENTURE ISLAND then became a series in its own right, for the most part staying in line with the template set by that first WONDER BOY game. And while WONDER BOY would go on to have some new life up into recent years, ADVENTURE ISLAND, for the most part, was a dormant series by the mid-’90s. I’ve ranked six ADVENTURE ISLAND games here, omitting the sole “modern” entry, ADVENTURE ISLAND: THE BEGINNING (2009), a WiiWare game that is no longer officially accessible in any way. That may be fine, because it looks…rough. Also left out are the various, closely adapted Game Boy ports of the NES games, Japan-only mobile games from the mid-2000s, and MASTER TAKAHASHI’S ADVENTURE ISLAND IV (1994), the final NES/Famicom game in the series and the only main game to not be released outside of Japan. The games represented below, for the most part, never deviate too far from an initial formula, but the ADVENTURE ISLAND games are worthy as usually brief retro action distractions.
All entries published by Hudson Soft.
#6 — ADVENTURE ISLAND (1986)
Developer: Hudson Soft
ADVENTURE ISLAND was built upon with pretty incremental changes after this first 1986 release. The port of WONDER BOY that started it all is a straightforward, fast-paced action platformer that sees Master Higgins embarking for “Adventure Island” to save a princess, Tina, from an evil witch doctor. The result is a decently difficult journey, during which Higgins throws stone axes and fireballs at an array of enemies and picks up fruit or milk to heal himself. Hidden eggs bring Higgins to bonus stages, and skateboards (complete with helmet) bring the already fast platforming to a new speed. In fact, it can be pretty difficult to control the skateboarding sequences at times; in a way, they feel like detractors instead of powerups. They are useful, however, because the crux of ADVENTURE ISLAND’s chaos is due to the constant timer counting down; the aforementioned fruit can help replenish the gauge. The game can feel a little slippery, therefore, and it has some pretty floaty and loose platforming, which requires a bit of getting used to. But it ultimately feels solid! ADVENTURE ISLAND is just simply the most basic game in the series, and considering the rest of the series does what this first game does, but better, it has to stand as, technically, the “worst” game in the series.
#5 — SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND (1992)
Developer: Produce!
SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND was the first game in the series released for the SNES and the first of three releases in 1992 that also included games for the TurboGrafx-16 and NES. Although it came out after ADVENTURE ISLAND II for the NES, SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND is missing some of the best parts of that game. Sure, the graphics and sound are better on the SNES, but there is also a slight difference in the way Master Higgins controls, and the level design feels a bit underwhelming. SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND does introduce a new weapon, the boomerang, but it really does just feel like a gussied-up version of the NES game from six years prior. It’s still fun in that case, however!
#4 — ADVENTURE ISLAND II (1991)
Developer: Now Production
ADVENTURE ISLAND II was a great sequel, creating a similar experience to its predecessor with some welcome additions. This game is not revolutionary, and feels like something that would come out a year later from the original in this era of games; instead, it came five years after the first ADVENTURE ISLAND. Regardless, ADVENTURE ISLAND II benefits greatly from the addition of some dinosaur buddies that Master Higgins can ride, who are potent powerups that can make getting through the short levels a relative breeze. The game also adds a map and inventory system, with the latter allowing for the equipping of stone axes before the start of another level. However, ADVENTURE ISLAND II does contain two significant omissions: the presence of the fireballs (which came after collecting multiple axes) and checkpoints. Both are offset by the dinosaurs’ assistance and the brevity of the game’s stages, respectively, but they do seem like strange steps back. Nevertheless, ADVENTURE ISLAND II is a clear improvement over its predecessor, and by extension, the more simplistic SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND as well.
#3 — ADVENTURE ISLAND 3 (1992)
Developer: Now Production
ADVENTURE ISLAND 3 got a little crazy by throwing aliens into the mix. It’s also a little crazy that this third ADVENTURE ISLAND release of 1992, an NES game, followed two 16-bit installments. It makes sense that its numbering system is beholden to the previous NES games (well, besides shifting from Roman to Arabic numerals), because ADVENTURE ISLAND 3 is a step up from ADVENTURE ISLAND II specifically. Dinosaur buddies are back, plus a new one (a triceratops), but the boomerang from SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND also returns. The level design and graphics are slightly improved from II, and ADVENTURE ISLAND 3 concludes the NES trilogy with the most streamlined experience to be found from the series on the console.
#2 — NEW ADVENTURE ISLAND (1992)
Developer: Now Production
In spite of my soft criticism of SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND for simply being a 16-bit upgrade of the first ADVENTURE ISLAND game, NEW ADVENTURE ISLAND, a similar product for the TurboGrafx-16, is nearly my favorite game in the series. It is missing the dinosaur buddies of II and 3, and plays a little more simply as a result. However, the graphics on this 16-bit system look better than the SNES, at least in this very specific example of ADVENTURE ISLAND (they were also made by different developers), and NEW ADVENTURE ISLAND really just benefits from some great enemy and level design. It’s hard to put my finger on what exactly NEW ADVENTURE ISLAND does better than its 1992 peers especially, but I do know that it’s great, pure fun.
#1 — SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND II (1994)
Developer: Make Software
But my favorite ADVENTURE ISLAND game is, of course, the black sheep of the series. Or, perhaps it’s the most faithful, in a way, to its source material. SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND II is the only game in the series that mirrors the evolution of the WONDER BOY series, although it has of course no real development or publishing overlap with it. This SNES game, and the final one in the series until ADVENTURE ISLAND: THE BEGINNING was released 15 years later, brings the linear action of the series into a more complex, exploration-based platformer. I wouldn’t say SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND II is suddenly some complicated RPG; rather, it contains some backtracking elements and upgradable components of Master Higgins’ equipment. And if I’ve been notably mum when it comes to the story of the ADVENTURE ISLAND games, it’s because it doesn’t really matter; Higgins is always just saving Princess Tina. It’s not like SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND II’s story is suddenly some evolved form of narrative, but it is also clear that it puts a bit more of a premium on telling a tale. All of these elements together make SUPER ADVENTURE ISLAND II the most ambitious in the series, and it is in fact still based in the platforming action you could expect from its predecessors. It’s the most full, and I should add longest, experience to be found from an ADVENTURE ISLAND game, and the first one I would return to if I felt the need to see Master Higgins again.
